EU leaders back May with move on Brexit talks

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Europe

EU leaders threw British Prime Minister Theresa May a lifeline in Brexit talks on Friday, agreeing at a Brussels summit meeting to start preparations for the next stage of negotiations.

EU President Donald Tusk said reports that the talks were in deadlock were "exaggerated," hailing a speech May made in Florence, Italy, last month for breaking the impasse.

As expected, the other 27 leaders agreed there had been insufficient progress on the divorce talks to officially move on to the future relationship, delaying the decision to a December summit.

But they took just 90 seconds to approve the start of internal preparations for post-Brexit trade and a transition deal, work that Tusk said would take Britain's proposals on future relations into account.

European Council President Donald Tusk looks on during a news conference at a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium on October 20, 2017. /VCG Photo

“My impression is that reports of the deadlock between the European Union and the UK have been exaggerated, and while progress has not been sufficient, it does not mean there is no progress at all,” Tusk said.

European leaders struck a broadly supportive tone for May, who has struggled to contain divisions in her government since losing her parliamentary majority in a June election and appealed to her colleagues over dinner Thursday to help her make headway in the Brexit talks.

A European diplomatic source said: “May asked for a sign, we have given a sign.”

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Source(s): AFP